BOOK II - THE STEPS TO UNION - Part 3

2. Desire for freedom. The
result of experience and of the investigations which the soul carries on in its
manifold life-cycles is to cause a great longing for a different condition and
a great desire for liberation and for freedom from the wheel of rebirth.

3. Desire for happiness. This
is a basic quality of all human beings, though it shows itself in many
different ways. It is based upon an inherent faculty of discrimination and
upon a deep seated capacity to contrast the "Father's" home and the
Prodigal's present condition. It is this inherent capacity for
"bliss" or happiness which produces that restlessness and urge to
change which lies back of the evolutionary urge itself. It is the cause of
activity and progress. Dissatisfaction with the present condition is based
upon a dim memory of a time of satisfaction and of bliss. This has to be
regained before peace can be known.

4. Desire to do one's
duty. The first three modifications of the thinking principle eventually
bring evolving humanity to the state where the [174] motive for life comes to be simply the fulfillment of
one's dharma. The longing for knowledge, for freedom, and for happiness has
brought the man to a state of utter dissatisfaction. Nothing brings him any
true joy or peace. He has exhausted himself in the search for joy for
himself. Now he begins to widen his horizon and to search where (in the group
and in his environment), what he seeks may lie. He awakens to a sense of
responsibility to others and begins to seek for happiness in the fulfillment of
his obligations to his dependents, his family, friends and all whom he
contacts. This new tendency is the beginning of the life of service which
leads eventually to a full realization of the significance of group
consciousness. H.P.B. has said that a sense of responsibility is the first
indication of the awakening of the ego or the Christ principle.

5. Sorrow. The
greater the refinement of the human vehicle, the greater the response of the
nervous system to the pairs of opposites, pain and pleasure. As a man
progresses and rises on the ladder of evolution in the human family it becomes
apparent that his capacity to appreciate sorrow or joy is greatly increased.
This becomes terribly true in the case of an aspirant and of a disciple. His
sense of values becomes so acute and his physical vehicle so sensitized that he
suffers more than the average man. This serves to drive him forward with
increasing activity in his search. His response to outer contacts is ever more
rapid and his capacity for pain, physical and emotional, becomes greatly
increased. [175]
This is apparent in the fifth race
and particularly in the fifth subrace in the increasing frequency of suicide.
The capacity of the race to suffer is due to the development and refinement of
the physical vehicle and to the evolution of the body of feeling, the astral.

6. Fear. As the
mental body develops and the modifications of the thinking principle become
more rapid, fear and that which it produces begin to demonstrate. This is not
the instinctual fear of animals and of the savage races, which is based upon
the response of the physical body to physical plane conditions, but the fears
of the mind, based upon memory, imagination and anticipation, and the power to
visualize. These are difficult to overcome and can only be dominated by the
ego or soul itself.

7. Doubt. This is one
of the most interesting of the modifications for it concerns causes more than
effects. The man who doubts can be described perhaps as doubting himself as an
arbiter of his fate, his fellowmen as to their nature and reactions, God, or
the first cause as witnessed by the controversies built up around religion and
its exponents, nature itself, which doubt urges him on to constant scientific
investigation and finally, the mind itself. When he begins to question the
capacity of the mind to explain, interpret and comprehend, he has practically
exhausted the sum total of his resources in the three worlds.

The tendency of these seven
states of mind, produced through the experience of the man upon the Wheel of
Lifeis to bring him to the point [176] where
he feels that physical plane living, sentiency and mental processes have
nothing to give and utterly fail to satisfy him. He reaches the stage which
Paul refers to when he says "I count all things but loss that I may win
Christ."

The seven stages of
illumination have been described by a Hindu teacher as follows:

1. The stage wherein the
chela realizes that he has run the whole gamut of life experience in the three
worlds and can say "I have known all that was to be known. Nothing
further remains to know." His place on the ladder is revealed to him. He
knows what he has to do. This relates to the first modification of the
thinking principle, desire for knowledge.

2. The stage wherein he frees
himself from every known limitation, and can say "I have freed myself from
my fetters." This stage is long but results in the attainment of freedom
and relates to the second of the modifications dealt with above.

3. The stage wherein the
consciousness shifts completely out of the lower personality and becomes the
true spiritual consciousness, centered in the real man, the ego or soul. This
brings in the consciousness of the Christ nature which is love, peace and
truth. He can say now "I have reached my goal. Nothing remains to
attract me in the three worlds." Desire for happiness is satisfied. The
third modification is transcended.

4. The stage wherein he can
say with truth "I have fulfilled my dharma, and accomplished my whole
duty." He has worked off karma, and [177] fulfilled
the law. Thus he becomes a Master and a wielder of the law. This stage has
relation to the fourth modification.

5. The stage wherein complete
control of the mind is achieved and the peer can say "My mind is at
rest." Then and only then, when complete rest is known can the true
contemplation and samadhi of the highest kind be known. Sorrow, the fifth
modification, is dispelled by the glory of the illumination received. The
pairs of opposites are no longer at war.

6. The stage wherein the
chela realises that matter or form have no longer any power over him. He can
then say "The gunas or qualities of matter in the three worlds no longer
attract me; they call forth no response from me." Fear therefore is
eliminated for there is nothing in the disciple which can attract to him evil,
death or pain. Thus equally the sixth modification is overcome and realisation
of the true nature of divinity and utter bliss takes its place.

7. Full self-realisation is
the next and final stage. The initiate can now say, with full conscious
knowledge, "I am that I am" and he knows himself as one with
the All-Self. Doubt no longer controls. The full light of day or completed
illumination takes place and floods the whole being of the seer.

These are the seven stages
upon the Path, the seven stations of the cross as the Christian puts it, the
seven great initiations and the seven ways to bliss. Now the "Path of the
just shineth ever more and more until the perfect day."

[178]

THE EIGHT MEANS

28. When the means to Yoga
have been steadily practised and when impurity has been overcome, enlightenment
takes place leading up to full illumination.

We now come to the practical
part of the book, wherein instruction is given as to the method to pursue if
full yoga, union, or at-one-ment is to be achieved. The work might be
described as twofold:

1. The practice of the right
means whereby union is brought about,

2. The discipline of the
lower threefold man so that impurity in any of the three bodies is eradicated.

This steadfast application to
the twofold work produces two corresponding results, each dependent upon its
cause:

1. Discrimination becomes
possible. The practice of the means, leads the aspirant to a scientific
understanding of the distinction existing between the self and the not-self,
between spirit and matter. This knowledge is no longer theoretical and that to
which the man aspires, but is a fact in the experience of the disciple and one
upon which he bases all his subsequent activities.

2. Discernment takes
place. As the purificatory process is carried on, the sheaths or bodies which
veil the reality become attenuated and no longer act as thick veils, hiding the
soul, and the world wherein the soul normally moves. The aspirant becomes
aware of a part of himself, [179] hitherto hidden
and unknown. He approaches the heart of the mystery of himself and draws
closer to the "Angel of the Presence" which can only be truly seen at
initiation. He discerns a new factor and a new world and seeks to make them
his own in conscious experience upon the physical plane.

It should be noted here that
the two causes of revelation, the practice of the eight means to yoga and the
purification of the life in the three worlds, deal with the man from the
standpoint of the three worlds and bring about (in the man's physical brain)
the power to discriminate between the real and the unreal and to discern the
things of the spirit. They cause also certain changes of conditions within the
head, reorganize the vital airs and act directly upon the pineal gland and the
pituitary body. When these four:

1. Practise,

2. Purification,

3. Discrimination,

4. Discernment,

are part of the life of the
physical plane man, then the spiritual man, the ego or thinker on his own plane
attends to his part of the liberating process and the final two stages are
brought about from above downwards. This sixfold process is the correspondence
upon the Path of Discipleship, of the individualizing process, wherein animal
man, the lower quaternary (physical, etheric, astral and lower mental) received
that twofold expression of spirit, atma-buddhi, spiritual will and spiritual
love, which completed him and made him [180] truly
man. The two stages of development which are brought about by the ego within
the purified and earnest aspirant, are:

1. Enlightenment. The
light in the head, which is at first but a spark, is fanned to a flame which
illumines all things and is fed constantly from above. This is progressive
(see previous sutra), and is dependent upon steadfast practise, meditation and
earnest service.

2. Illumination The
gradually increasing downpour of fiery energy increases steadily the
"light in the head," or the effulgence found in the brain in the
neighborhood of the pineal gland. This is to the little system of the
threefold man in physical manifestation what the physical sun is to the solar
system. This light becomes eventually a blaze of glory and the man becomes a
"son of light" or a "sun of righteousness." Such were the
Buddha, the Christ, and all the great Ones who have attained.

29. The eight means of
yoga are: the Commandments or Yama, the Rules or Nijama, posture or Asana,
right control of life-force or Pranayama, abstraction or Pratyahara, attention
or Dharana, meditation or Dhyana, and contemplation or Samadhi.

It will be noted that these
means or practices are apparently simple, but it must be carefully remembered
that they do not refer to anything accomplished on one or other plane in some
one body, but to the simultaneous activity and practice of these methods in all
three bodies at once, [181] so that the
entire threefold lower man practices the means as they refer to the physical,
the astral, and the mental vehicles. This is often forgotten. Therefore, in
the study of these various means to yoga or union, we must consider them as
they apply to the physical man, then to the emotional man and then to the
mental man. The yogi, for instance, has to understand the significance of
right breathing or of posture as they relate to the triple aligned and coordinated
lower man, remembering that it is only as the lower man forms a coherent
rhythmic instrument that it becomes possible for the ego to enlighten and
illuminate him. The practise of breathing exercises, for instance, has led the
aspirant frequently to concentrate upon the physical apparatus of breath to the
exclusion of the analogous practice of rhythmic control of the emotional life.

It may be of use here if
(before we take up the consideration of the means, one by one) we tabulated
them carefully, giving their synonyms where possible:

Means I.

The Commandments. Yama. Self-control or forbearance. Restraint.
Abstention from wrong acts. These are fivein number and relate to the
relation of the disciple (or chela) to others and to the outside world.

Means II

The Rules. Nijama. Right observances. These are likewise five
in number and are frequently [182] called
the "religious observances" because they relate to the interior life
of the disciple and to that tie, the sutratma or link which relates him to God,
or to his Father in Heaven. These two, the five Commandments and the five
Rules are the Hindu correspondence to the ten Commandments of the Bible and
cover the daily life of the aspirant, as it affects those around him, and his
own internal reactions.

Means III.

Posture. Asana. Right Poise. Correct attitude. Position.
This third means concerns the physical attitude of the disciple when in
meditation, his emotional attitude towards his environment or his group, and
his mental attitude towards ideas, thought currents and abstract concepts.
Finally, the practice of this means coordinates and perfects the lower
threefold man so that the three sheaths can form a perfect channel for the
expression or manifestation of the life of the spirit.

Means IV.

Right control of thelife-force. Pranayama. Suppression of the
breath. Regulation of the breath. This refers to the control, regulation and
suppression of the vital airs, the breath and the forces or shaktis of the
body. It leads in reality to the organization of the vital body or the etheric
body so that the life current or forces, emanating from the ego or spiritual
man on his own plane, [183] can be correctly
transmitted to the physical man in objective manifestation.

Means V.

Abstraction. Pratyahara. Right withdrawal. Restraint. Withdrawal
of the senses. Here we get back of the physical and the etheric bodies, to the
emotional body, the seat of the desires, of sensory perception and of feeling.
Here can be noted the orderly method which is followed in the pursuit of yogaor union. The physical plane life, external and internal is attended to;
the correct attitude to life in its triple manifestation is cultivated. The
etheric body is organized and controlled and the astral body is re-oriented,
for the desire nature is subdued and the real man withdraws himself gradually
from all sense contacts. The next two means relate to the mental body and the
final one to the real man or thinker.

Means VI.

Attention. Dharana. Concentration. Fixation of the mind. Here
the instrument of the Thinker, the Real Man, is brought under this control.
The sixth sense is coordinated, understood, focussed and used.

Means VII.

Meditation. Dhyana. The capacity of the thinker to use the mind
as desired and to transmit to the brain, higher thoughts, abstract ideas, and
idealistic concepts. This means concerns higher and lower mind.

[184]

Means
VIII.

Contemplation. Samadhi. This relates to the ego or real man and
concerns the realm of the soul. The spiritual man contemplates, studies or
meditates upon the world of causes, upon the "things of God." He
then, utilizing his controlled instrument, the mind (controlled through the
practise of concentration and meditation) transmits to the physical brain, via
the sutratma or thread which passes down through the three sheaths to the
brain, that which the soul knows, sees and understands. This produces full
illumination.

MEANS I. THE COMMANDMENTS

30. Harmlessness, truth to
all beings, abstention from theft, from incontinence and from avarice,
constitute yama or the five commandments.

These five commandments are
simple and clear and yet, if practised, would make a man perfect in his
relationships to other men, to supermen and to the subhuman realms. The very
first command to be harmless is in reality a summation of the others. These
commandments are curiously complete and cover the triple nature; in studying
all these means we shall note their relation to one or other part of the lower threefold
manifestation of the ego.

I. Physical Nature.

1. Harmlessness. This
covers a man's physical acts as they relate to all forms of divine
manifestation [185]
and concerns specifically his force
nature or the energy which he expresses through his physical plane
activities. He hurts no one, and injures nobody.

2. Truth. This
concerns primarily his use of speech and of the organs of sound, and relates to
"truth in the inmost part" so that truth in externality becomes
possible. This is a large subject, and deals with the formulation of a man's
belief regarding God, people, things and forms through the medium of the tongue
and voice. This is covered in the aphorism in Light on thePath. "Before
the voice can speak in the presence of the Master it must have lost the power
to wound."

3. Abstention from theft.
The disciple is precise and accurate in all his affairs and appropriates
nothing which is not rightly his. This is a large concept covering more than
the fact of actual physical appropriation of others' possessions.

II. Astral Nature.

4. Abstention from
incontinence. This is literally desirelessness and governs the out-going
tendencies to that which is not the self, which finds physical plane expression
in the relation between the sexes. It must be remembered here, however, that
this expression is regarded by the occult student as only one form which the
out-going impulses take, and a form which allies a man closely with the animal
kingdom. Any impulse which concerns the forms and the real man [186] and which tends to link him to a form and to the
physical plane is regarded as a, form of incontinence. There is physical plane
incontinence and this should have been left behind by the disciple long ago.
But there are also many tendencies towards pleasure seeking with consequent
satisfaction of the desire nature and this, to the true aspirant, is likewise
regarded as incontinence.

III. Mental Nature.

5. Abstention from
avarice. This deals with the sin of covetousness which is literally theft
upon the mental plane. The sin of avarice may lead to any number of physical
plane sins and is very powerful. It concerns mental force and is a generic
term covering those potent longings which have their seat not only in the
emotional or kamic (desire) body, but in the mental body also. This
commandment to abstain from avarice is covered by St. Paul when he says "I
have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." That
state has to be attained before the mind can be so quieted that the things of
the soul can find entrance.

31. Yama (or the five
commandments) constitutes the universal duty and is irrespective of race,
place, time or emergency.

This sutra makes clear the
universality of certain requirements, and by a study of these five commandments
which form the basis of what the Buddhist calls "right conduct," it
will be seen [187]
that they form the basis of all true
law and that their infringement constitutes lawlessness. The word translated
duty or obligation, could well be expressed by that comprehensive term dharma
in respect to others. Dharma means literally the proper working out of one's
obligations (or karma) in the place, surroundings and environment where fate
has put one. Certain governing factors in conduct must be observed and no
latitude is permitted in these respects no matter what one's nationality, no
matter what the locality in which one finds oneself, and no matter what age one
may be or what emergency may arise. These are the five immutable laws governing
human conduct and when they are followed by all the sons of men, the full
significance of the term "peace to all beings" will be comprehended.

As said above, these five
rules govern the life of the lower personal self and form the basis of
character. The yoga practices which so much interest the western thinker and
aspirant, and which lure him on with their apparent ease of accomplishment and
richness of reward (such as psychic unfoldment) are not permitted by the true
guru or teacher until yama or nijama have [188] been
established as controlling factors in the daily life of the disciple. The
commandments and the rules must first be kept, and when his outer conduct to
his fellowmen and his inner discipline of life is brought into line with these
requirements, then he can safely proceed with the forms and rituals of practical
yoga, but not till then.

It is the failure to
recognize this that leads to so much of the trouble among students of yoga in
the west. There is no better basis for the work of Eastern occultism than
strict adherence to the requirements laid down by the Master of all the Masters
in the Sermon on the Mount, and the self-disciplined Christian, pledged
to purity of life and unselfish service, can take up the practise of yoga much
more safely than his more worldly and selfish yet intellectual brother. He
will not run the risks that his unprepared brother takes.

The words "internal
and external purity" relate to the three sheaths in which the self is
veiled and must be interpreted in a dual sense. Every sheath has its densest
and most tangible form and this must be kept clean, for there is a sense in
which the astral and mental bodies can be kept cleansed from impurities coming
to them from their environment, just as the physical body must be kept cleansed
from similar impurities. The subtler matters of those bodies must be kept
equally cleansed and this is the basis of that study of magnetic purity which
is the cause of so many observances in the East which seem inexplicable to the
Westerner. A shadow cast upon food by [189] a
foreigner produces impure conditions; this is based upon the belief that
certain types of force emanations produce impure conditions and though the
method of counteracting these conditions may savour of dead letter ritual yet
the thought back of the observance remains still the truth. So little is as
yet known about force emanations from the human being, or acting upon the human
mechanism, that what may be called "scientific purification" is as
yet in its infancy.

Contentment is productive of conditions wherein the mind is at
rest; it is based upon the recognition of the laws governing life and primarily
the law of karma. It produces a state of mind wherein all conditions are
regarded as correct and just, and as those in which the aspirant can best work
out his problem and achieve the goal for any specific life. This does not
entail a settling down and an acquiescence producing inertia, but a recognition
of present assets, an availing oneself of one's opportunities and letting them
form a background and a basis for all future progress. When this is done
rightly the three remaining rules can be more easily kept.

Fiery aspiration will be dealt with more fully in the next book, but it
is well to point out here that this quality of "going forth" towards
the ideal or of straining towards the objective must be so profound in the
aspirant to yoga that no difficulties can turn him back. Only when this
quality has been developed and proved and when it is found that no problem, no
darkness and no [190]
time element can hinder, is a man
permitted to become the disciple of some Master. Fiery effort, steady
persistent longing and enduring faithfulness to the ideal visioned are the sine
qua non of discipleship. These characteristics must be found in all three
bodies, leading to the constant disciplining of the physical vehicle, the
steady orientation of the emotional nature and the mental attitude which
enables a man to "count all things but loss" if he can only arrive at
his goal.

Spiritual reading will be found to concern the development of the sense
of subjective realities. It is fostered by study as understood in the physical
sense, and by the endeavour to arrive at the thoughts which words convey. It
is developed by a close scrutiny of the causes which lie back of all desires,
aspirations and feelings, and thus is related to the desire or astral plane.
It deals with the reading of symbols or geometrical forms ensouling an idea or
thought and this concerns the mental plane. This will be dealt with later in
Book III.

Devotion to Ishvara may be briefly stated to constitute the attitude of
the lower threefold self to the service of the ego, the inner ruler, the God or
Christ within. This will be triple in its manifestation, bringing that lower
personal self into a life of obedience to the Master within the heart;
eventually bringing the aspirant into the group of some adept or spiritual
teacher, and leading him also into devoted service to Ishvara or the divine
Self as found in the hearts of all men and back of all forms of divine
manifestation.

[191]

33. When thoughts which
are contrary to yoga are present there should be the cultivation of their
opposite.

The translation by Johnston
gives the same idea in very beautiful words and the method is adequately
brought out. He says:

"When transgressions
hinder, the weight of the imagination should be thrown upon the opposite
side."

The entire science of the
balancing of the pairs of opposites is given in these two translations, neither
one being fully complete without the other. It is often difficult to translate
the ancient Sanskrit terms by one word or phrase, for in that language a term
will stand for an entire idea and will require several phrases in order to
convey the true meaning in the more limited English tongue.

Certain basic concepts are
embodied in this sutra and for the sake of clarity might be tabulated as
follows:

1. As a man thinketh so is
he. That which works out into physical objectivity is always a thought, and
according to that thought or idea so will be the form and life-purpose.

2. Thoughts are of two kinds;
those tending to form-building, to limitation, to physical plane expression;
those tending away from the lower three planes and therefore from the form
aspect as we know it in the three worlds, and leading to union (yoga or
at-one-ment) with the soul, the Christ aspect.

[192]

3. When it is found that the
thoughts habitually cultivated are productive of astral and physical reactions
and results it must be realized that they are inimical to yoga; they hinder the
at-one-ing process.

4. Contrary thoughts to these
must then be cultivated; these can be easily ascertained for they will be the
direct opposite of the inhibiting thoughts.

5. The cultivation ofthe
thoughts which will tend to yoga and lead a man to a knowledge of his real self
and consequent union with that self involves a triple process:

a. The new thought concept,
definitely formulated and found to be contrary to the old thought current, must
be ascertained and considered.

b. The use of the imagination
comes next in order to bring the thought into manifestation. This brings in
the realm of desire and consequently the astral or emotional body is affected.

c. Then follows definitevisualization
of the effect of that which has been thought and imagined, as it will manifest
in the physical plane life.

This will be found to
generate energy. This means consequently that the etheric body becomes
vitalized or energized by the new thought current and certain transformations
and re-organizations take place which eventually cause a complete change in the
activities of the physical plane man. The constant cultivation of this effects
an entire transformation in the threefold lower man, and eventually the truth
of the Christian phraseology [193] becomes
apparent, "only Christ is seen and heard," onlythe real or
spiritual man can be seen expressing himself through a physical medium, as
Christ did through His instrument and disciple, Jesus.

34. Thoughts contrary to
yoga are harmfulness, falsehood, theft, incontinence, and avarice, whether
committed personally, caused to be committed or approved of, whether arising
from avarice, anger or delusion (ignorance); whether slight in the doing,
middling or great. These result always in excessive pain and ignorance. For
this reason, the contrary thoughts must be cultivated.

It will be noted that the
five Commandments deal specifically with those "thoughts contrary to
yoga" or union, and that the keeping of the Commandments will bring about:

a. Harmlessness instead of
harmfulness,

b. Truth instead of
falsehood,

c. Abstention from theft
instead of stealing,

d. Self-control instead of
incontinence,

e. Contentment instead of
avarice or covetousness.

No excuse is left to the
aspirant, and the truth is borne in on him that transgression of the
Commandments is equally productive of results whether the violation is trifling
or very great. A "contrary thought" must produce its effect
and the effect is dual; pain, and ignorance or delusion. There are three words
which the occult student associates ever with the three worlds:

[194]

1. Maya or illusion, having
reference to the world of forms in which the true self finds itself when in
incarnation, and with which it ignorantly identifies itself for long aeons;

2. Delusion, the
process of wrong identification, in which the self deludes itself, and says
"I am the form;"

3. Ignorance or
avidya, the result of this wrong identification and at the same time the cause
of it.

The self is clothed in form;
it is deluded in the world of illusion. Every time, however, that
"thoughts contrary to yoga" are knowingly entertained, the self
submerges itself still more in the illusory world and adds to the veil of
ignorance. Every time that the "weight of the imagination" is thrown
on the side of the real nature of the self and turned away from the world of
the not-self, the illusion is lessened, the delusion becomes weakened, and
ignorance is gradually superseded by knowledge.

35. In the presence of him
who has perfected harmlessness, all enmity ceases.

This sutra demonstrates to us
the working out of a great law. In Book IV. Sutra 17, Patanjali tells us that
the perception of a characteristic, of a quality and of an objective form is
dependent upon the fact that in the perceiver similar characteristics,
qualities and objective capacity are to be found. This similarity is the basis
of perception. The same truth is hinted at in the first [195] Epistle of St.John where the words are found "We shall be like Him for we shall
see Him as He is." Only that can be contacted which is already present or
partially present in the perceiver's consciousness. If enmity and hatred are
therefore to be found by the perceiver, it is because in him the seeds of
enmity and hatred are present. When they are absent naught but unity and
harmony exists. This is the first stage of universal love, the practical
endeavour on the part of the aspirant to be at one with all beings. He begins
with himself and sees to it that the seeds of harmfulness in his own nature are
eradicated. He deals, therefore, with the cause which produces enmity towards
him and others. The natural result is that he is at peace and others are at
peace with him. In his presence even wild beasts are rendered impotent and
this by the condition of the mind-state of the aspirant or yogin.

36. When truth to all
beings is perfected, the effectiveness of his words and acts is immediately to
be seen.

This question of truth is one
of the great problems which the aspirant has to solve, and he who attempts to
speak only that which is entirely accurate will find himself confronted by very
definite difficulties. Truth is entirely relative whilst evolution proceeds,
and is progressive in its manifestation. It might be defined as the
demonstration on the physical plane of as much of the divine reality as the
stage in evolution and the medium [196] employed
permit. Truth, therefore, involves the ability of the perceiver or aspirant to
see correctly the amount of the divine which a form (tangible, objective, or of
words) clothes. It involves, therefore, the capacity to penetrate to the
subject and to contact that which every form veils. It involves also the
ability of the aspirant to construct a form (tangible, objective, or of words)
which will convey the truth as it is. This is in reality the first two stages
of the great creative process:

1. Correct perception,

2. Accurate construction, and
it leads on to the consummation dealt with in the sutra under consideration—the
effectiveness of all words and acts to convey reality or truth as it is. This
sutra gives the clue to the work of the magician and is the basis for the great
science of mantras or of words of power which are the equipment of every adept.

Through an understanding of,

a. The law of vibration,

b. The science of sound,

c. The purpose of evolution,

d. The present cyclic stage,

e. The nature of form,

f. The manipulation of atomic
substance, the adept not only sees truth in all things but comprehends how to
make truth visible, thus aiding the evolutionary process and "casting
images upon the screen of time." This he does through certain words and
acts. For the aspirant, the development of this capacity comes through a
constant [197] effort to fulfill the following requirements:

1. Strict attention to every
formulation of words used,

2. The wise use of silence as
a factor of service,

3. The constant study of the
causes lying back of every act so that the reason for the effectiveness or
non-effectiveness of action is understood.

4. A steady endeavour to see
the reality in every form. This literally involves a study of the law of cause
and effect, or karma, the object of the karmic law being to bring the opposite
pole of Spirit, matter, into strict conformity with the requirements of spirit
so that matter and form can perfectly express the nature of spirit.

37. When abstention from
theft is perfected, the yogi can have whatever he desires.

In this is to be found the
clue to the great law of supply and demand. When the aspirant has learned to
"desire nothing for the separated self" he can then be trusted with
the riches of the universe; when he makes no demand for the lower nature and
claims nothing for the threefold physical man, then all that he desires comes
to him unasked and unclaimed. In some translations the words are found
"all jewels are his."

It must be remembered with
care that the theft referred to has reference not only to the taking of things
tangible and physical, but has reference also to abstention from theft on the
emotional or mental planes. The aspirant takes nothing; [198] emotional benefits, such as love and favor, dislike or
hatred are not claimed by him and absorbed when they do not belong to him;
intellectual benefits, the claiming of a reputation not warranted, the
assumption of some one else's duty, favour or popularity are all equally
repudiated by him and he adheres with strictness to that which is his own.
"Let every man attend to his own dharma" and fulfill his own role, is
the Eastern injunction. "Mind your own business" is the Western
attempt to teach the same truth and convey the injunction that we each of us
must not steal from another the opportunity to do right, to measure up to
responsibility and to do his duty. This is the true abstention from theft. It
will lead a man perfectly to meet his own obligations, to shoulder his own
responsibility and to fulfill his own duty. It will lead him to refrain from
appropriating anything that belongs to his brother in the three worlds of human
endeavour.

38. By abstention from
incontinence, energy is acquired.

Incontinence is usually
regarded as the dissipation of the vitality or the virility of the animal
nature. The power to create upon the physical plane and to perpetuate the race
is the highest physical act of which man is capable. The dissipation of the
vital powers through loose living and incontinence is the great sin against the
physical body. It involves the failure to recognize the importance of the
procreative act, the inability to [199] resist
the lower desires and pleasures, and a loss of self control. The results of
this failure are apparent throughout the human family at this time in the low
health average, in the full hospitals, and the diseased, enfeebled and anemic
men, women and children everywhere to be found. There is little conservation
of energy, and the very words "dissipation" and dissipated men"
carry a lesson.

The first thing a disciple
has to do is to learn the true nature of creation and to conserve his energy.
Celibacy is not enjoined. Self-control is. In the relatively short cycle of
lives, however, in which the aspirant fits himself to tread the path, he may
have to pass a life or maybe several in a definite abstention from the act of
procreation in order to learn complete control and to demonstrate the fact that
he has completely subdued the lower sex nature. The right use of the sex
principle along with entire conformity to the law of the land is characteristic
of every true aspirant.

Apart from a consideration of
this along the lines of the conservation of energy, there is another angle from
which the aspirant approaches the problem and that is the transmutation of the
vital principle (as manifested through the physical organism) into the dynamic
demonstration of it as manifested through the organ of sound, or creation,
through the word, the work of the true magician. There is as all students of
occultism know, a close connection between the organs of generation and the [200] third major centre, the throat centre. This is
apparent physiologically in the change of voice seen during the adolescent
period. Through the true conservation of energy and abstention from
incontinence, the yogi becomes a creator on the mental plane through the use of
the word and of sounds, and the energy which can be dissipated through the
activity of the lower centre is concentrated and transmuted into the great
creative work of the magician. This is done through continence, pure living
and clean thinking, and not through any perversions of occult truth such as sex
magic and the enormities of the sex perversions of various so-called occult
schools. The latter are on the black path and do not lead to the portal of
initiation.

39.
When abstention from avarice is perfected, there comes an understanding of the
law of rebirth.

This sutra gives in
unequivocal terms the great teaching that it is desire for form of some kind
which brings the spirit into incarnation. When desirelessness is present, then
the three worlds can no longer hold the yogi. We forge our own chains in the
furnace of desire and of a various longing for things, for experience and for
form life.

When contentment is
cultivated and present, gradually these chains drop off and no others are
forged. As we disentangle ourselves from the world of illusion, our vision
becomes cleared, and [201] the laws of being
and of existence become apparent to us and are little by little understood.
The how and the why of life are answered. The reason for and the method of
physical plane existence is no longer a problem, and the yogi understands why
the past has been and what its characteristics are; he understands the reason
for the present life cycle and experience and can make practical application of
the law each day, and he knows well what he has to do for the future. Thus he
frees himself, desires nothing in the three worlds and re-orients himself to
the conditions in the world of spiritual being.

In these qualities we have
the carrying out of the five Commandments.

40. Internal and external
purification produces aversion for form, both one's own and all forms.

This paraphrase of Sutra 40
does not adhere to the technical translation of the Sanskrit words on account
of the misunderstanding of the words used. Literally the translation runs
"internal and external purification produces hatred for one's own body and
non-intercourse with all bodies." The tendency of students in the West to
interpret literally necessitates a somewhat freer translation. The Eastern
student, more versed in the symbolic presentation of truth is not so liable to
make mistakes along this line. In considering this sutra it should be
remembered that purity is a quality of spirit.

[202]

Purification is necessarily
of various kinds and relates to the four vehicles (the physical body, the
etheric body, the emotional body and the mental body) through which man
contacts the three worlds of his endeavor. We might, therefore, distinguish
between them as follows:

a. External purity

physical vehicle

dense body,

b. Magnetic purity

etheric vehicle

internal purity,

c. Psychic purity

astral vehicle

emotional purity,

d. Mental purity

mental vehicle

purity of the concrete
mind.

It should be most carefully
borne in mind that this purity concerns the substance out of which each of
these vehicles is composed. It is attained in three ways:

1. Elimination of impure
substance or of those atoms and molecules which limit the free expression of
spirit, and which confine it to the form so that it can have neither free
ingress nor egress;

2. Assimilation of those
atoms and molecules which will tend to provide a form through which spirit can
adequately function;

3. The protection of the
purified form from contamination and deterioration.

On the Path of Purification
or of Probation, this eliminative process is commenced; on the Path of
Discipleship, the rules for the constructive or assimilative process are learnt
and on the Path of Initiation (after the second initiation,) the protective
work is begun.

In the occident the rules of
external purification, of sanitation and of hygiene are well known and largely
practised. In the orient, the rules [203] of
magnetic purification are better known and when the two systems are synthesized
and mutually recognized, the physical sheath in its dual nature will eventually
be brought to a high degree of refinement.

In this cycle, however, the
interest of the Hierarchy is being largely centred on the question of psychic
purity and this is the reason for the trend of the occult teaching at present
developing. It is away from what is commonly understood by psychic
development, lays no emphasis on the lower psychic powers and seeks to train
the aspirant in the laws of the spiritual life. This produces a realization of
the nature of the psyche or soul, and a control of the lower psychic nature.
The great "push" of the hierarchical endeavour for this century,
1926-2026, will be along these lines, combined with a dissemination of the laws
of thought. Hence the necessity for the promulgation of the teaching given in
the Yoga Sutras. They give the rules for mind control but the nature of the
psychic powers and the development of the psychic consciousness are also
largely dealt with.

The entire third book deals
with these powers and the theme of the sutras as a whole might be briefly
stated to be the development of mind control with a view to soul-contact and
the consequent control of the lower psychic powers, their unfoldment paralleling
that of the higher powers. This should be emphasized. Aversion for form or
"desirelessness," which is the generic term covering this condition
of mind, is the great impulse [204] which
eventually leads to complete liberation from form.